Thank you for all of the articles. Keep them coming with careful attention to our guidelines. We are now on a monthly publication schedule. Articles for the next issue of the Michigan Libertarian must be submitted to chair@michiganlp.org, newsletter@michiganlp.org and vcpoliticaldirector@michiganlp.org no later than the 20th of each month. This allows for publication on the first of each month.
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Following their losses in the November election, the Republican legislature moved swiftly to exploit the lame-duck session of the Michigan legislature. They proposed hundreds of bills designed to protect the interests of the Republican Party, strip incoming elected Democrats of executive power, and spend soaring tax revenues on their pet projects. Fortunately SB 1254, which would have banned all Libertarians from serving on the redistricting commission established by the recently enacted Proposal 2, was NOT one of the 340 bills sent to Gov. Snyder for signature.

Detroit, MI - Long-time Libertarian activist Scotty Boman organized a press conference that two of Southeast Michigan's major television news stations broadcasted. He sent out a news release on behalf of Detroit Residents Advancing Civilian Oversight (D.R.A.C.O.) in which he announced that two prominent Detroiters would join him in expressing their displeasure about how a Detroit Police Department (DPD) officer handled an unarmed woman at the Detroit Receiving Hospital.

Four Affiliates Will Be Meeting at New Locations

Wayne County

By Scotty Boman, Wayne County Affiliate Chair

Dearborn , MI - After several years of meetings at Tijuana's Mexican restaurant, the Libertarian Party of Wayne County decided to have a change of scenery. The affiliate is grateful for the years of excellent service provided by Tijuana's. The new location is Westpoint Bar-B-Que at 25301 Michigan Ave, Dearborn, Michigan 48124. This meeting is on January third at 6:30 PM. The meetings will remain on the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 PM for the time being, but there may be additional changes in the future, so please call ahead. I can be reached by email at scottyboman@hotmail.com or by phone (voice only) at (313) 247-2052. Facebook users can stay in touch with us here: https://www.facebook.com/LPMIWayne and on meetup.com here:https://www.meetup.com/Libertarian-Party-of-Michigan/ The affiliate will be circulating a survey whereby approval voting will be used to choose the best time and place for Libertarian Party members who live in Wayne County.

Oakland County

By Greg Stempfle

The Oakland County affiliate will be meeting at the Rusty Bucket on January 16th and February 20th . The Rusty Bucket Restaurant and Tavern is located at 30450 Telegraph Road, Bingham Farms, MI 48025. Dinner time will be at 6:30 PM, meeting at 7:30 PM.

Southwest Michigan

By Jason Brandenburg, Southwest Michigan affiliate Chair

The venue the Southwest Michigan affiliate was meeting at has abruptly closed. The next meeting of the LP of Southwest Michigan will be on Tuesday February 5, 6-8pm at The Crew Restaurant in Kalamazoo

Reflections on 2018

By Scotty Boman, Editor

Another year has passed, but in many ways 2018 was different for the Libertarian Party of Michigan. Love it or hate it, this was the year that we played the game by the same rules as Democrats and Republicans (except for the hefty subsidizes that only the top two parties got). The high vote total earned by Gary Johnson and Bill Weld in 2016 invoked a clause in our bylaws that called for a special convention in anticipation of how state law would be treating us differently in the next election.

Thanks to the tireless research by Political Director Greg Stempfle we were able to approve a set of bylaws that were compatible with our new status. Since 2019 is an odd year, the bylaws will be up for revision. While setting a record for third party gubernatorial candidates in Michigan, the Gelineau-Thomas ticket did not receive enough votes to retain our special status. Thankfully the existing bylaws anticipated this possibility. We now have bylaws that seamlessly adapt to our change of status, and should we break that threshold again they will still be relevant. So we can take some of our experiences in applying the bylaws with us to the 2019 convention. There will probably be some changes but an overhaul isn't required.

Some events are also posted by their hosts at the Meetup.com site. It is recommended that you contact an officer for an affiliate or check the Website (or Facebook page) associated with the meeting host (if they have one) before arriving at a meeting. Some meetings can get canceled, or locations can change with short notice. Contact information connected to most events can be found by expanding the item on the "Agenda view" of the Events page of our website.

January 3, 2018 - Livingston County Michigan Libertarians social meeting, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
The meetings have two parts:

Meet and greet: Catch up with each other at 7 while we order food and introduce any visitors.

Guest Speaker / Miscellaneous: If we have something going on that requires discussion before the business meeting, we talk about it. Occasionally, we will have a guest speaker.

The other meeting we have every month is the business meeting. At this meeting, usually held at our Secretary's home in Howell, the officers and volunteers discuss affiliate business. The membership is welcome to attend these meetings, which are announced at the prior week's social meeting.
Cleary's Pub, 117 E Grand River Ave. Howell, MI 48843
For more information, contact James Weeks II at 810.422.8769 or email j.weeks@riseup.net

January 3, 2019 - Libertarian Party of Wayne County monthly meeting, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
After several years of meetings at Tijuana's Mexican restaurant, the Libertarian Party of Wayne County decided to have a change of scenery. The affiliate is grateful for the years of excellent service provided by Tijuana's. The new location (At least for January) is Westpoint Bar-B-Que at 25301 Michigan Ave, Dearborn, Michigan 48124.
There may be additional changes in the future, so please call ahead for future meetings.
Business and speakers, for the Wayne County affiliate, are normally scheduled from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM, but people arrive around 6:30 PM to order dinner. For more information, contact Scotty Boman at (313) 247-2052 or email ScottyBoman@hotmail.com

January 8 - Northwest Michigan affiliate monthly business meeting, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Toy Town of Cadillac. 122 S Mitchell St. Cadillac, Michigan 49601.
The Northwest Michigan Libertarians recently became an official affiliate of the Libertarian Party of Michigan, as members selected officers and set a regular meeting schedule. In addition, the group created official bylaws, which were approved by the Executive Committee of the Libertarian Party of Michigan.
The officers will conduct a business meeting every 2nd Tuesday of each month. Please see the Events Page for more information.
Business meetings will focus on the group's goals of electing political candidates and conducting outreach and educational activities. Anyone is welcome!
The monthly meeting will be also be held electronically as well. To join the January 8th meeting online contact Donna Krieg to get the current Zoom Meeting link. For more information, please contact Donna Gundle-Krieg at dokrieg@gmail.com.

February 5, 2019 - Southwest Affiliate Meeting 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
The venue the Southwest Michigan affiliate was meeting at has abruptly closed. The next meeting of the LP of Southwest Michigan will be on Tuesday February 5, 6-8pm at The Crew Restaurant. 3810 East Cork Street Kalamazoo, MI. (269) 337-9800. Take the Sprinkle Rd/Cork exit off I-94. For more information, please contact Jason Brandenburg at swmi4liberty@be-innovative.net.

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If you are new to the Michigan Libertarian, you can link to 2016 issues here, http://michiganlp.org/category/newsletters . Older issues are preserved in our historical archives here: http://old.michiganlp.org/resources-2/newsletter.